Breathing new life into a theatrical bastion is no easy feat, but all reports and reviews have Betty Buckley’s performance in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ further solidifying the legend that this Broadway icon has already etched in stone. Currently at the Boston Opera House (where we’ll be seeing her on my birthday) this is the production that Bette Midler revived, in all its gloriously sumptuous form. The world needs this more than ever right now, and I intend to sit back and let the love and the light wash over us.
Ms. Buckley has provided a bright spot to my world whenever it threatened to go dim, and her artistry at every turn of her career has been an inspiration to better myself in whatever road I was taking. Hers is the stuff of hard work, grit, studied determination, and a talent honed from years of exertion and practice. Beneath the steeliness, however, lurks a compassionate human being, whose love for animals and fellow humans rises to the surface in her generosity to an audience. She gives the best of herself in every performance, tackling each show as if it’s her first, last and only. That kind of resilience and infectious exuberance is the key to becoming Dolly Levi, and I cannot wait to see her this Saturday.
